Brainstorm the Home school Unit Study Topic with Questions

Helpful questions to brainstorm the homeschool unit study

So, you've decided on a home school unit study topic, but now you are wondering how to brainstorm your unit study so that there may be 4-5 weeks of work, rather than 20 minutes.

I have developed some questions which will help you brainstorm your Home school Unit Study topic; These questions help you examine a History Topic using questions and ideas to expand the study - Ways to explode the study from history/ geography/ literature/ Biblical ideas/ Character study/ Reading/ Writing and Art ideas.



Brainstorm Historical Topics to create your home school unit study

Here are some helpful questions which can be applied to a Historical Based Study:-

History Questions for your Unit Study

    • Where in history is……
    • Investigate the time period:
      • Culture
      • Geography
      • Cities, Towns
      • Major Events
      • People
      • Wars
      • Fashion
    • What is this time period/ person remembered for in history?
    • What happened before?
    • What happened during…?
    • What happened after……?
    • What was happening in other countries at the time?

Visit this page for more history unit study ideas. 

Expand the Unit Study with Geography Ideas

    • Where did this take place?
    • What is the geography of the region like?
    • How did the geography of the area affect the people/ the wars/ the customs/ the clothing/ food/ resources?
    • Make a salt dough map of the region.

Literature Questions for the Unit Study

    • What was written in this time period?
    • Is this person famous for some written work?
    • If possible, read primary sources from the time period.
    • Read historical fiction of the time period or of the character

Relate the Unit Study to the Bible

    • Does this time period correlate to a Biblical time?
    • Does the Bible mention these people?
    • Examine the actions of these people or this character by Biblical standards
    • What does the Bible say on their customs/ beliefs/culture?
    • What were the beliefs ofthis group of people? How did their beliefs affect what they did?

Ways to include Copywork and Dictation in the Unit Study

    • Choose excellent literature from the time period to copy;
    • Choose excerpts from historical fiction to use for copy or dictation.
    • Copy a poem about this person/ time period;

Broaden the Unit Study by Reading from various sources

    • Read from the authors of the time period where suitable;
    • Read about the time period using interesting, living books;
    • Read poetry or Drama (Shakespeare's Historical plays) where suitable;
    • Internet sites for research;

Write about the Unit Study Topic

    • Oral narrations of passages/ books being read;
    • Written narrations;
    • Narration starters:
      • More Narration Starters here.
      • Describe the time period;
      • Draw what it was like- food/clothes/maps/culture/houses;
      • Write a play about the character or event;
      • Describe the historical character using the 5W's &1H - Who,What,When,Why, Where and How?
      • Draw the character or event on a page and spend 10 minutes writing adjectives describing the scene or person.
      • Compare and contrast two characters from a historical fiction book or from other sources;
      • Write passages from the read aloud novel which describe a worthy action;
      • Write what you loved the most about this character/event.
      • Write what made you sad? happy? disappointed?..

Add Drama and Oral Presentations to the Unit Study

    • Write a speech about the character/event/time period;
    • Present a short play on one of the events you enjoyed;
    • Take partin a Shakespearian play based on the time period;
    • Recite a poem
    • Write and recite your own poem
    • Dress up in costume of the time-period and people

Get Creative with Art in the Unit Study

    • Make a salt dough map of the region and use flags to describe where specific events took place.
    • Make the toys that children played with in that time;
    • Make models of the houses/ inventions and so on;
    • Perform a cultural dance of the native people;
    • Make masks and costumes;
    • View the art of the culture;
    • View the work of the artists- art museum;
    • Learn how to appreciate art and describe works of art in the critiquing process;

Music Ideas inside the Unit Study

    • Listen to the music of the historical time period;
    • Make musical instruments;
    • Play and move to the music;
    • Watch appropriate videos which show the culture, music and customs of the people;

Hopefully the above information gives you a taste of how to brainstorm your home school unit study topic. 

Where to from here?

More on the Home school Unit Study Approach: